Panthers Sign TE Greg Olsen To A Three-Year Extension

The Carolina Panthers announced that they have signed TE Greg Olsen to a three-year contract extension.

Olsen receives a three-year contract worth $22.5 million, which includes a signing bonus of $12 million.

Olsen will be under team contract through the 2018 season and will make an annual salary of $7.5 million.

“It’s really a dream come true,” Olsen said. “Since we’ve come to Charlotte, we very quickly realized that this is home. This community quickly embraced our family, so we put down roots here. We love it here. This is home for us.

“Now to have this contract that guarantees that I’ll play the rest of my career in Charlotte is a tremendous blessing. We’re just so thankful for the team believing in me and wanting me to still be a part of this. As a team, we have a lot of special times ahead of us.”

“The future around here is extremely bright,” Olsen said. “That’s pretty evident with the young influx of talent that came in last year, along with the seasoned vets we have to lead the way. Coach (Ron) Rivera and his staff, since they’ve been here, all we’ve done is improve and reach new levels. There’s no reason why we can’t continue to build like we have the last couple of years and reach our ultimate goal of reaching the Super Bowl.”

There was talk that the two sides were likely to get a long-term contract in place following what was an extremely impressive 2014 season for Olsen.

Olsen, 29, still had one year remaining on his five-year, $24.7 million contract that included $8.7 million guaranteed. He was set to make a base salary of $5.25 million for the 2015 season.

In 2014, Olsen caught 84 passes for 1,008 yards receiving and six touchdowns for the Panthers over the course of 16 games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 3 tight end in the league out of 67 qualifying players.